Emergency mailing envelope



March 2, 194-3.

-D. B. DICKINON EMERGENCY MAILING ENVELOPE Filed March 14, 1941 Patented Mar. 2, 1943 UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE' EMERGENCY MAILING ENVELOPE Donald B. Dickinson, Silver Creek, N. Y. Application March 14, 1941, Serial No. 383,397

5 Claims. (01. 229-72) My invention relates to an emergency mailingenvelope for postal use.

In outlying sections of cities, and particularly in suburban territory, postage stamps are not easily available and necessitate, in many in-.

envelope, in which provision is made for deposit-.

ing the amount of th postage required so that the mailman can pick up the envelope to be mailed while delivering other mail and have the money for the required postage given him so that when he reaches the post ofiice out of which he makes delivery, he can purchase the necessary postage stamp or stamps and apply them to the envelope.

While I have referred to this invention as an emergency envelope, it may in broader terms be referred to as an emergency container, yet it is particularly designed for envelopes in that the invention has for another of its objects the application of a coin envelope to the mailing envelope in such a manner that the coin envelope can be easily removed from the mailing envelope and assurance had that in removing the coin envelope, the mailing envelope will not be torn or weakened.

A still further object of my invention is to apply a small coin-envelope to the rear face of a mailing-envelope and protect the mailing envelope by interposing between the two envelopes a protec-- tion strip which is first applied to the mailing envelope, preferably by glueing the same thereto, and to which a coin-envelope is then applied, preferably by glueing it thereto.

A still further object of my invention is to provide an emergency mailing-envelope which has a protection strip of a given area adhesively ap plied thereto and to which a comparatively small coin envelope, larger however than the protection strip, is adhesively applied, so that a free portion or tab is provided for the coin envelope which can be easily taken hold of preparatory to tearing the coin-envelope from its place. 7

With the above and other objects in view, the invention consists in the novel features of construction and in the arrangement and combination of parts to be hereinafter described and more particularly pointed out in the subjoined claims.

In the drawing,

Fig. 1 is a rear View of my improved emergency mailin -envelope. V

Fig. 2 is a rear view of the mailing-envelope, showing the same as it appears before applying the coin-envelope thereto, but illustrating the protection strip interposed between the mailing and coin-envelopes as applied to said mailingenvelope preparatory to applying the coin-envelope thereto.

Fig. 3 is a front view of the coin envelope, showing the area glued or to be glued and caused to adhere to the protection strip.

Fig. 4 is a cross section through the complete envelope, showing coins to be used for the purchase of stamps inserted in the coin-envelope.

While I have illustrated my invention as applied to an ordinary mailing-envelope, it is apparent that the invention may be applied to any other container of a like nature designed to be transported by mail, but since it is well known that when two objects of paper are glued together and an attempt is made to separate them, the line of cleavage is not always between the paper objects, and one or the other is oftentimes torn in the act of separating them. In this invention such a condition cannot arise, due to the interposition of the protector strip which forms part of the invention. Therefore, my invention is particularly desirable for use in connection with ordinary mailing-envelopes.

' The reference numeral 5 designates an ordinary mailing-envelope having the usual closure flap 6 which is invariably formed on the rear side of the envelope. This leaves the face of the envelope flat and unbroken for the name of the addressee, and. if desired, that of the sender. In order that this face is not disturbed, I utilize a small space on the rear of the envelope, centrally underneath its closure flap, for application thereto of a comparatively small coin-envelope which is to be torn off when delivered to the mail man or the post office and opened to remove the coin or coins deto said protector strip.- 7 j It is to be noted that the length of the coinenvelope, in the particular representation of my invention shown herein, is co-extensive with the length of the protector strip, but somewhat wider than the latter. Consequently, the adhering area 9 of the envelope, which may be a glued area or an area to be glued, is narrower than the envelope, but preferably co-extensive in length and width with the protector strip. As clearly shown in Fig. 4, when the coin-envelope is applied to the protector strip, the upper portion thereof is free or spaced from the rear surface of the mailing-envelope, and this free portion, indicated by the numeral I8, is utilized as a tab, which may be taken hold of and pulled in order to separate the coin envelope from the mailing envelope.- It will be clear, therefore, that in its original condition this emergency envelope has both the sealing flap of the mailing envelope and the sealing flap of the coin envelope unsealed, although both are provided with an adhesive to be moistened for sealing them. When the matter to be forwarded is placed within the mailing-envelope, the flap '6 of the latteris sealed, after which the necessary coins to mail the matter, designated by the numeral H in Fig. 4, are inserted in the coin-envelope and the flap [2 of the latter sealed in the same manner as that of the mailing-envelope.

I preferably arrange the coin-envelope so that its lower edge is a distance from the lower edge of the mailing-envelope when applied to the latter, so that a space 13 is provided between the lower edge of the mailing-envelope and the lower edge of the coin envelope. This guards against cutting through the folded lower portion of the coin-envelope'when dropping the entire emergency mailing-envelope into a letter-box, since the portion of the mailing-envelope projecting below the lower edge of the coin-envelope serves as a guard to prevent the coin-envelope from coming into contact with the bottom of the mailboX, thus preventing the coin-envelope from becoming shear d along its lower edge, as might happen were the coins, covered by the paper of the coin-envelope, to come in contact with a hard surface by impact.

I also preferably provide both the mailing and the coin-envelopes with corresponding serial numbers or other corresponding characters, as indicated by the numeral [4. Therefore, should the small envelope become separated in transport before the proper stamps have been applied to the mailing envelope, it could easily be determined as to whether or not the sender has provided the necessary coins for postage, since the serial number on any detached coin-envelope could be compared with the serial numbers on the mailing-envelopes, and if matched, the coins could be used to purchase the necessary stamps and assurance be had that the envelope will be passed through the mail in the regular course of procedure.

This emergency envelope ready for mailing, sans the necessary postage stamps, is dropped in the letter-box for delivery to the mailman, or it is otherwise delivered to him, to be taken to the post office for application thereto of the necessary stamps. To this end the mailman or other authorized person at the post oflice grasps the tab of the coin-envelope and separates it from the mailing-envelope under a pulling strain. This results in cleavage between the protector strip 8 and-the fiat'fr'ont. side of the coin-envelope, with possibly a portion of the pro tector strip being ruptured or pulled away with the coin-envelope, or part of the latter being left on the protector strip; it being understood, of course, that the line of cleavage between two paper objects glued together cannot be definitely determined. However, by using the protector strip, assurance is had that the line of cleavage will never, at any point, extend beyond the adhesive material by means of which the protector strip is applied to the mailing-envelope, and therefore at no time would it bepossible to cause the mailing-envelope to be weakened, much less torn under the act of removing the coin-envelope from the mailing-envelope. It will be apparent that after removal of the coin-envelope, there will be no projecting parts on the mailing-envelope which would act as a catch in the canceling machines usually employed in canceling mail in the post office, and that if the line of cleavage were definitely established in some instances between the protector strip 8 and the coin-envelope so as to practically leave the protector strip intact, the thickness of the latter would not interfere with the proper canceling operation any more than the overlying portion of the sealing flap on the mailing-envelope.

When the coin-envelope is removed, the latter is opened in any desired manner, the coins removed therefrom and a stamp or stamps of the necessary value purchased and applied to the addressed face of the mailing envelope. The protector strip, or at least a portion thereof, will remain glued to the mailing envelope, but this it not objectionable since it is on the rear side of the envelope. In any event, assurance is had that the mailing-envelope will be intact, and in fact be stronger than an ordinary mailing-envelope in that the protector strip, after removal of the coin-envelope, serves as a reinforcement over at least a limited area of the mailingenvelope.

While I have shown the preferred application of my invention in providing a pulling tab for the coin-envelope along its entire length at the top, such pulling tab may be otherwise constructed or arranged and the protector strip changed in outline accordingly, depending on the area of the coin-envelope to be glued to the protector strip. If desired, however, the coin-envelope and the protector strip may, under the broader aspect of my invention, be coextensive both in length and width and the entire surface of the coin-envelope adhesively applied to the protector strip;

The provision of a pulling tab has nevertheless decided advantages, and among others, quite apparent in View of statements hereinbefore made, "may be added the saving of material. A protector strip one-half the width of a coin-envelope will also result in considerable saving of glue; a

protector strip adhesively applied thereto, and a coin-envelope adhesively applied-to said protector strip, said protec or r p e itt ng the coin-envelope to be torn from the mailing envelope without damaging the latter.

3. A mailing-envelope having a comparatively small piece of paper adhesively applied to its rear face to serve as a protector strip and a coin-envelope adhesively applied to said protector strip with a non-adhesive area for said coin-envelope to serve as a pulling tab.

4. A mailing-envelope having means to seal the same, a comparatively small protector strip adhesively applied to its rear side, and a coinenvelope provided with means to seal the same and being of larger dimension at least in one direction than said protector strip, said coinenvelope having an area co-extensive with said protector strip adhesively applied thereto, thus forming a free portion for said coin-envelope to serve as a pulling tab for separating the coin-envelope from said protector strip.

5. A mailing-envelope having a closure flap to seal the same, a protector strip of comparatively small area adhesively applied to said envelope in spaced relation to said closure flap, and a coinenvelope having a closure flap to seal the same, said coin-envelope being comparatively small and being adhesively applied to said protector strip.

DONALD B. DICKINSON. 

